Dress and Morality

Rating:
Summary: fascinating topic but....
Review: I am extremely intereted in the relationshiop between morality and dress and was immediately drawn to this book. Costume has been used throughout the ages to advertise social status, distinguish genders, and as a reaction to current politics, and has therefore always been controversial. However, Ribeiro has made this incendiary topic extremely dry, perpetually refering to moralists' problems with the fashions of their times without connecting the issues of decency to anything: politics, cultural issues, etc. The inclusion of more specific fashion scandals-their causes and results-- would have made this a far more enjoyable and poignant read as well. This book is a decent chronology of sumtuary laws, but it's missing a theme more coherent than "moralists had a problem with all types of clothing at some time."